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Australian babies with peanut allergies will be treated to boost their immunity to the potentially life-threatening condition under a world-first project.
Under supervision at a designated pediatric hospital, eligible infants will receive gradually increasing doses of peanut powder daily for at least two years to reduce sensitivity.
Oral immunotherapy has been used in clinical trials and at some specialized allergy centers around the world, but this is the first time it has been adopted as a national model for treating peanut allergy.
Australia is often referred to as the ‘allergy capital of the world’, with 1 in 10 babies diagnosed with a food sensitivity.
Around 3% of Australians aged 12 months have a peanut allergy and unlike other food allergies, few children outgrow it, making it the most common food allergy among school-age children.
“This could be the key to stopping the spread of this horrible allergy that we’ve been hoping to see,” said Assistant Secretary of Health Ged Kearney.
The free program is only available to children under 12 months old who have been diagnosed with a peanut allergy and are being treated at one of ten participating hospitals nationwide.
Project leader Tim Bretig told the BBC that each child’s medication schedule would be carefully calculated until they reached a “maintenance dose” and would be maintained for two years.
Some children may experience side effects such as allergic reactions, but for most children in this age group, symptoms are mild and do not require treatment, he said.
The goal is to increase their tolerance threshold, reduce the risk and anxiety associated with peanut exposure, and measure the results with food allergy testing at the end of treatment.
“In some cases, (the threshold) might be so high that they can freely consume peanuts in their diet, while for others it might raise it to a level where accidental exposure would not result in an allergic reaction.”
“Ultimately, we want to change the trajectory of allergic disease in Australia so that more children can go to school without being at risk of a life-threatening peanut reaction,” said Professor Kirsten Perrett, Director of the National Allergy Centre of Excellence (NACE).
NACE will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the program with hopes of expanding it to more hospitals and potentially to other areas of food allergy care.
However, doctors stress that families should not try oral immunotherapy at home without supervision.
“This is definitely not a one-size-fits-all program,” Dr. Bretig said.
(BBC News)
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